Forevermore
by AirFireWaterEarth
Summary: The Dragon's Beast is a man with scales riding a fatal dragon. He is the only reason Astrid is alive. She is to wed and then kill the beast that has beset Berk for 99 years. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock has felt like less of a human with every passing year. Just one more year until that's true. For neither will this be an expected turn. But this is life. Forevermore.
1. Chapter 1: Human by Krwella

_**Forevermore**_

**Summary: The Dragon's Beast is a man with scales riding a fatal dragon. He is the only reason Astrid is alive. She is to wed and then kill the beast that has beset Berk for 99 years. But that's not how things work. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock has felt like less of a human with every passing year. Just one more year until that's true. This is life. Forevermore.**

_Astrid Hofferson_

She awoke to a deep blue light peering through her window and wetness on her cheeks. She didn't bother trying to convince herself it was merely sweat; it was no use. She just lay there, savoring the peace and quiet before the true thunder would come crashing down.

It was still night, but not for long; Astrid was still free, but not for long. As slowly as it came, the sky still became blue and the sun still became bright. With that, the silence left.

Astrid wished the birds would just shut up. They had no right to be happy. Not on a day like today.

Everyone who knew her said that Astrid was lucky to be alive. The only female that was firstborn without death was Ruffnut (believe it or not, the name was fairly common within her family), and that was only because she was the twin of a boy, Tuffnut (see). Being a firstborn girl on the island of Berk meant instant death. They had different plans for Astrid. To be honest, Astrid would have rather for them to have drowned her. But someone had to do her job. Someone had to kill the Dragon's Beast.

The Dragon's Beast was said to have once had a name. He was said to have once been human, to once have looked human. But then he did the unthinkable; he sided with the dragons. The Elders cursed him of eternity as a scaly beast-man with his dragon. The village of Berk had honored them for years and years to come. They still did. But in Astrid's reality, it was idiotic for the Vikings to have done. All they did was have him around to torment them forever! Such a beast would not care for what he looked like.

_A beast you're marrying_, a small voice in Astrid's mind spoke.

It was true. Exactly twenty-one years ago, a deal was struck. As a price for no death, Astrid was to marry the man. Therefore, while the village was still raided, the Dragon's Beast interfered with any major (human) damage. Still, the village wanted the raids to stop. That was the _real_ reason for the deal. Astrid was to marry the beast not to prevent death, but to kill the Dragon's Beast. And that had been every day life for Astrid. Every day it was train, train, break, train, train, and sleep. They didn't care if she knew how to read or write or do math.

That was why every break was filled with books. Astrid wasn't going to be some dead-brained fighter like Snotlout. Plus she wanted to be the best in everything (not that she wasn't the best warrior). They tried to stop her; it wasn't going to matter in the end anyways. But Astrid was born stubborn, and stubborn she would stay.

The only person to support Astrid's care for knowledge was Maeve Ceres. Maeve was the village healer of Berk, and was born a slave. Although being Berk's first female to become free of slavery by herself, it also lead to the reasoning that Maeve was never able to read or write (she never cared for math). Maeve declined Astrid's offers to teach her.

"It's takes away the little time you have. Besides, you can't teach an old dog new tricks," Maeve would always say.

Speak of the devil. A light knock sounded throughout the room. Slowly, the door opened to reveal Maeve herself.

"They found it best that I were to wake you up," she said lightly.

Astrid smiled despite her mood. It wasn't that the phrase was really that funny, but the truth behind it was. Astrid was feeling so awful that it would take an elderly friend to make sure she didn't go into an raging rampage.

"I've been awake for a while," Astrid said, hoisting her into the seated position.

Maeve shrugged.

"They figured. Let's get you ready."

Astrid pretended not to notice Maeve just barely refrained from saying the words 'big day'.

_,~'_

Astrid blankly looked at herself in the mirror. If it had been a true day of marriage, and out of love, Astrid would have admitted to liking how she looked. The dress was an ivory color with lightly added floral patterns that trailed a couple inches past her feet. The fabric gleamed in a way that only silk could and it accented her curves delightfully. Astrid's shoes were unnoticeable under her dress, but when she walked, you could see that they were delicately crafted with the same material as her dress.

Her father came in, also with an emotionless expression and Astrid turned around. It was time. When Astrid approached her father and went to open the door, her father stopped her.

"Take this. It is the only thing that can kill the Dragon's Beast."

It was a blade of the smaller category. In its metal were intricate and ancient runes, in which contrasted to the plain handle. Astrid took the blade and slipped it into a hidden fold in her dress, made just for this occasion.

"Are you ready?" her father asked.

No. "Yes."

It looked odd. The Dragon's Beast was here with his monster, yet the skies were void of the other beasts. The Dragon's Beast wore armor made mainly of black leather and metal, with some brown leather as well. On the shoulders were red dragon symbols. Then, of course, there was his mask in which Astrid was eternally grateful for. In the (very) few places the armor exposed, there were shiny black scales that matched the feral dragon next to him. Seeing his face would probably have had Astrid stumble into a kneel and face the ground crying.

As she approached, Astrid could feel her stomach churning. She didn't want to do this. She wanted to go home and... And do what? This was her life. This was all she knew. This was the final test.

Astrid averted her attention from Maeve and her mother, both of whom did not attempt to hide the tears leaking through her eyes.

The chief, Spitelout, nodded and Astrid's hand was placed into the Dragon's Beast's. Her breathing hitched. She wasn't positive that she was feeling his gloves or his actual hands. Both were black and (assumedly) eerily cold. The pastor opened his mouth, but the Dragon's Beast shook her head.

If it was possible, the crowd became even more silent and uncomfortable. The Dragon's Beast dropped his hands and, with some hesitation, pulled Astrid with him.

"It's no' a proper wedding without the vows," Maeve said calmly.

It surprised Astrid. Maeve never spoke much about the Dragon's Beast, and it was just now that it seemed clear; Maeve wasn't afraid of the Dragon's Beast. It shouldn't have been as shocking, considering the fact that Maeve believed in the good of everyone. But how could the same rules apply to the _Dragon's Beast_? He was a no-good blood bringer.

"It's fine, Maeve," Mr. Hofferson said.

If Maeve's outspokenness hadn't been the most shocking moment, the next one was. It made Astrid briefly forget her fears. The Dragon's Beast looked at Maeve and Maeve looked right back at him. Unwaveringly. Slowly, the Dragon's Beast nodded, as if agreeing to something that their silent starring implied. And maybe it was. With the apparent agreement from the Dragon's Beast, Maeve looked at Astrid and gave a soft smile.

Astrid guessed the Dragon's Beast wasn't much for good-byes. With a tug and a yell from Astrid, they were up and in the air in no time.

The wind blew through Astrid's hair and, to be honest, it made Astrid feel— terrified. She was over fifty feet off the ground and flying at top speed. Without thinking too much about it, Astrid clung on to the Dragon's Beast for dear life. She could feel the Dragon's Beast stiffen, but, for the moment, she didn't care. If this were some plot to kill her, then he would go down with her— even if he'd come back to life. He still felt the pain of it. He still felt pain, right? Astrid wasn't able to think straight. There were only two words going through Astrid's head correctly: Fly and death.

When they landed in the middle of (really) nowhere, Astrid let out a sigh of relief, only to become purely _petrified._ She was holding onto _a hideous beast that rode a dragon_, so tightly she could feel him breathing. With a yelp, she let go with such enthusiasm that she fell off the dragon. It was the ground. The ground was fine. It wasn't the Dragon's Beast or the beast's dragon or the sky or Berk...

Suddenly, Astrid recognized a sound of laughter. It wasn't her as it sure as Hel wasn't the dragon. It was the Dragon's Beast.

Without thinking, Astrid sputtered, "Are you... laughing?"

From Astrid's seat on the ground, she could see and hear some shuffling as the Dragon's Beast dismounted his dragon.

"Yes. Is it not normal for one to laugh?" He replied, much to Astrid's surprise.

"Well, yes," Astrid mustered. Why was she still talking?

"No laughing, huh? Some new rule of Berk's? I wouldn't be surprised," the Dragon's Beast's tone grew bitter, "They've always managed to come up with the most inferior rules."

Astrid was incredibly insulted, but something about this seemed off to Astrid. Why would the Dragon's Beast know anything about Berk's politics? The Dragon's Beast landed on the ground and looked at Astrid through his mask.

"Well, come on then. Let's get inside."

Astrid stood up stiffly and followed the Dragon's Beast into a cave of sorts. Despite the situation, Astrid had plenty of questions flowing through her head.

"What am I to call you?" Astrid blurted, making the Dragon's Beast stop walking.

"What?" he asked.

"I-I," _wish I was smart enough not to say that, _"have a feeling th-that what we call you on Berk would not b-be very... appropriate."

Much to Astrid's surprise (again), the Dragon's Beast snorted.

"No, probably not. Last I heard, they were calling me Lizard Man. My name's Hiccup."

"Hiccup?" Dear Odin, how many times would it take for her unfiltered words to get her killed before she killed him?

"They used to say that hideous names warded off trolls and other 'nasty' creatures. As if out lovely Viking demeanors didn't already do that."

Parents still did that, but at least Astrid was smart enough to keep that to herself.

"And what's your name, Milady."

Milady? This was weird. Not the kind of weird fear that Astrid expected to feel with such a dreaded creature, but the normal kind of weird. In which made it weirder.

"A-astrid."

"Well, 'A-astrid', this is your room. I hope you find it to your suiting. Now, before I leave you to your own business, would you mind handing me over that dagger in your dress."

"What dagger?" Astrid pretended to be void of knowledge for such item.

The Dragon's Be— Hiccup merely held out his hand. With a sigh, Astrid handed over the blade.

"Thank you. I'll come get you in the morning for breakfast."

With that, Dra— _Hiccup_ was off, followed by his dragon who gave Astrid and indignant huff.

What. The Hel. This was not, under any circumstances, in her wildest dreams, even under the influence large doses of mead, what she imagined The D— HICCUP to be like. The great and feared Dragon's Beast was named Hiccup, for Thor's sake, and he called her weird terms such as 'Milady' and mocked her stuttered by calling her 'A-astrid'. Then he look her dagger as if it weren't some tool he knew was planned on being used to kill him (in which, in another lovely plus made this 50% harder).

Astrid was fairly certain she was going to keel over from absolute, pure shock.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm not going to say much, other than these three things:**

**I don't own HTTYD 1 or 2.**

**I am going to have Hiccup's (sort of) POV in the next chapter.**

**Review.**


	2. Chapter 2: If I Die Young by Band Perry

_**Forevermore**_

_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III_

"_For one who chose beast over his own,_

_Your treachery we will not condone_

_This will be taken with your dragon that lead you to this destiny_

_To remind you of your felony_

_You will live as man and monster for all of the Gods' time_

_To pay for your heinous crime."_

_To watch his Elders say such things brought chills to his spine. It was not supposed to end like this. He was supposed to convince his tribe that dragons were not the mindless beasts they once thought him to be. He never should have run that day. He never should have waited five years, after his father was killed... But it was too late. His tribe was scarred, he had no father, and he was cursed._

_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III screamed as his skin felt an intense bubbling heat that stretched over his body. It cooled at the tips of his fingers, slowly making its way up his arm. And in the place of the lava-like substance were scales. Shiny black scales. Hiccup stumbled back in panic, tripping over himself in the process. His eyes met with his reflection in the Hall of Mirrors, a likely place for such horrid curses, and what his eyes met with— _

Hiccup shot up from his bed in cold sweat, refraining a scream that would wake up his best and only companion who was blissfully sleeping on the floor beside him, and likely the young lady sleeping several 'doors' down. Hiccup fumbled for some matches and a lamp. Several curses later, the lamp was lit.

Shading the lamp, Hiccup carefully tip-toed over the black reptile's sleeping form and made his way towards the back-end of the passageway of tunnels that lead to the small spring. Careful to avoid his reflection, Hiccup splashed water into his face.

He'd had that dream 36,135 times, but never had he ever gotten the to part with the mirrors. The Gods were evil enough to make sure he never got any sleep; the least they could do was to stop the dream before it got to the worst part. Hiccup sighed at his misfortune and sat down, playing with the water half-mindedly.

99 years ago, he was cursed. 100 years ago, his father had died. Just one year to go before this cursed life was reality— forever and ever and ever... Well, the point was thorough enough.

It wasn't until _after_ the lovely mirror part was his 'cure' stated. True love's kiss, just like something out of a stupid romance novel. Well, he doubted the romance novel included the beast-man had a dragon and went around doing good deeds— oh, wait! Hiccup was the only person that really knew it. Well, and Toothless. But that useless reptile wasn't really on board with the let-the-humans-live ordeal. Speaking (ahem, thinking) of letting humans live...

That girl, Astrid he was sure her name was, was another burden on his shoulders. It wasn't that he didn't have any supplies; he had plenty. It was the fact that he had another person to make sure didn't escape, or try and kill him.

Hiccup had to admit, this was the smartest of the plots Berk had to try and kill him. Well, if they wanted him dead, why would they curse him to live _forever_? Vikings were just like that. Straining his ears, Hiccup heard footsteps that were too light to be Toothless's.

Years and years of hiding allowed Hiccup to slip past Astrid undetected, and he quickly took his place in bed. He wasn't _too_ against letting her see his face, but then was not the time.

**,o'**

It was still dark out, with the exception of some deep blue light simmering in from the cracks in the stone. Hiccup looked down at the blade that the Vikings had given Astrid to use on him.

He had to admit, the knife would have stunned him to near death, but there was one symbol missing. The one symbol was so encrypted that only Hiccup, a cursed, would know what it was. And, though there were many other insane things Hiccup had not pictured doing in his life, suicide was not one of them.

Toothless, at that point, was up, but barely moving.

"Hey, Bud? Mind blowing this to Valhalla for me?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless groggily took one sniff at the knife and shot Hiccup a look that stated 'gladly'. With that, Hiccup tossed the dagger to the opposite end of the room and let Toothless have his fun. After enough ruckus to awaken the gods, Toothless decided that the blade was demolished enough to go back to sleep. Hiccup would have felt bad for their guest, but he knew she was already awake, for he had not heard any footsteps following back into her room.

It took a moment before footsteps were heard again. When she got close enough, Hiccup, fully armored, pulled on his mask and took several paces out of his room (as to hide where he slept in case she _did_ find a way to kill him in his sleep), and walked in front of the Astrid girl.

"I thought I told I would come to fetch you for breakfast?"

The Astrid girl sucked in a deep breath.

"I went looking for water," she said slowly.

Hiccup wasn't 100% sure whether or not the pace to the Astrid girl's words was set because she was scared to stutter or she found him more beast than man, in turn suppressing need to speak to him like a dog. Likely, it was the latter.

"The spring's that way," Hiccup said, pointing in the direction opposite to which the Astrid girl had come.

"W-w-well," the Astrid girl sputtered, "It wasn't like I _knew_ that."

Hiccup shrugged.

"Considering the fact that your search began several hours ago, I'd say you would have given up a while back."

"I don't give up easily."

"Yeah, no really?" Hiccup muttered under his breath, his tone likely too low to hear, "Well, now that you know, I would prefer it if your wandering is confined to where the spring is."

The Astrid girl obviously did not like the idea of being constricted, but agreed in silence.

"I'll come and get you when the sun is up. I trust you do you need assistance going to and from the springs?" Hiccup asked, trying to keep the evil glee of agitating the girl from entering his voice.

"I'll-be-fine," The Astrid girl said quickly and harshly, as if she believed saying it would be like pulling out a splinter that she had somehow obtained... from all this stone. Hiccup snorted. It was just like him to take his own metaphor seriously.

"What's so funny?" It was official; this Astrid girl was _peeved_. She, of course, did not growl at him as she would to most people, but he irritation was seeping out of her like wind out of a Whispering Death. Hiccup knew he should stop; he was only trying to anger her because he found the way the Astrid girl viewed him maddening. Which, on an even further down side, proved her views.

"My mind," Hiccup answered, "Now go get your water. We don't need any bodies simply because of dehydration."

Not even he knew what that meant.

**A/N: And chapter two. Up. It was shorter, but over 1100 words, so no complaints on length. Welcome to Hiccup's extremely cryptic side of the story. We've got cookies.**

**Review to get some! XD**


	3. Chapter 3: TO MISTYLEAFMARKIAN

**Forevermore**

_Astrid Hofferson_

Astrid wasn't sure if she was supposed to be afraid of Hiccup (as she now persisted to remind herself to call him). And, if she was honest with herself, Astrid didn't believe Hiccup was either. One moment, he was calm, relaxed and perfectly fine with her being here. The next he was albeit still calm, but insufferably so, and now seemed irked at her presence.

So, gods, please pardon her irritable mood.

Astrid's awfully uncomfortable (not to mention inconvenient) wedding dress that she had been wearing throughout the day and slept in the little hours she slept that night wasn't helping either. There was, also, of course, the fact that _she had been married off a beast with mood swings 24/7_.

So, the gods likely couldn't pardon her mood. They'd already damned her for life.

Astrid never went back at her room after the less-than-civil conversation with Hiccup. She just lingered by the springs, which seemed to be the last hope of humanity in this dreadful homestead. Astrid's thoughts could have gone a million different ways, but the one that keep streaming through her mind wondered: she hadn't ever gotten married to the man. There was no priest involved; that meant it wasn't even legal! Right? Then again, Hiccup was the Dragon's Beast. The Dragon's Beast had no care for Berk's policies, not matter how it seemed. Even if it seemed—

No, Astrid had far too many things on her mind. There was no way she was going to add another two-way street to it. She had enough.

Astrid really wanted a distraction from her thoughts. And Hiccup. And her heartless family. And her dress. And virtually anything that didn't have to do with this gods-damned life of hers!

But that was the thing; Astrid _couldn't_.

Footsteps sounded behind her. She tensed.

"Breakfast is in your room."

Astrid turned around slightly.

"But I thought you would come to _get_ me from my room. Why would you come to retrieve me if you were just going to, oh, I don't know, walk me in a circle and lead me back to my room?"

Astrid wasn't going to play dumb here. This was so confusing; she was going to give everything she had in making sure Hiccup gave her as many answers as possible. She was going to die anyways.

"I changed my mind."

Astrid shook her head and closed her eyes so that she could roll them. _That_ was no jest.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, are you going?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid raised her eyebrows lightly.

"That depends," she said, "would I be allowed to return here?"

Hiccup merely shrugged.

He said, "I suppose. This isn't prison."

With that, he left Astrid to make a seemingly mundane decision.

However, Astrid felt frozen, with the words _this isn't prison_ echoing in her head.

**:.:*:.:**

As it turned out, it wasn't _really_ a hard decision. Astrid's stomach had decided it for her, leading her back to her room.

Astrid's room was actually a lot like her old room (without the windows), which was fairly disturbing. She spent the entire time picking out the things in her room and this room that were generic. In the end, to her relief, it turned out that the majority of similarities from this room to her room were generic, and anything personal in her room was not included here.

It wasn't actually too concerning, but it provided distraction.

...and now she had none.

Astrid sighed and pulled at her dress, in which was smothering her as consequence for her lack of other, better clothes. She had previously made the decision to wait until Hiccup came around again to do who-knows-what and fill out a complaints form, but, now, she was afraid she would have to go seek him out herself.

Unfortunately, Astrid would have to be lucky enough to catch him by the spring, and that was relatively improbable.

Astrid sighed. Well, maybe she could make better of her clothes.

The more she thought about it, the more appealing Astrid found the idea. She ripped her outer skirt in four places; one on the side of her right leg, one of the side of her left leg, once down the middle of her front, and once down the middle of her back-side (this one was made shorter). Once done, Astrid tied the four strands at her left side of her body into a pant of sorts, and did the same to her right.

Now the dress wasn't suffocating her. Well, the bottom half of her, anyways.

The alterations to her top half took a while for Astrid to figure out. Slowly, she ripped off the top, most decorated part of the dress entirely, leaving the thinner layer beneath. The next part was trickier, since Astrid's dress did not possess sleeves. Because the dress was sleeveless, the top area around her chested region was uncomfortable, clinging to her like her now sweat-drenched hair.

After long thought, Astrid stretched it out, knowing full well how it would fall. Then she tugged at the center of the top of her dress until she heard a rip. From there, Astrid stretched it out until she could fit it over her head comfortably.

It wasn't until she took a sigh of relief and relaxed her muscles did Astrid realize that Hiccup was at her doorway, erm, _entryway_.

"It looks like you've gone mad on that dress," he said.

Astrid schooled her features and shrugged.

"There's no need to impress here."

Hiccup laughed, "Touché."

Astrid looked at him inquisitively .

"What is "Toe kay"?"

Hiccup looked to be containing a laugh.

"I forgot that you Berkians didn't get out much."

Astrid shook her head bitterly.

"Oh, we do. Just... not me."

Hiccup asked, "So, would that be a royal 'we'?"

A sigh was all Astrid gave in reply.

In just return, Hiccup nodded absentmindedly. He looked to be deep in thought about something. Whatever it was, Astrid dared not ask; it didn't seem like a pleasant memory. Besides, she herself wasn't in the mood for any deep emotional moments with a man in a mask (at the very best description).

And equal silence went throughout the room. It almost made Astrid think that Hiccup was actually human. Or that she wasn't. But neither of the two was true (or, at least, they were as true as the other).

"I'll look into getting you new clothes," Hiccup said, startling her.

He turned to leave the room, but Astrid had one last thing to say.

"Will I be able to leave the cave? Or at least be able to," _move more than twenty feet,_ "go elsewhere than where the spring lies."

Hiccup swung his head back and fourth as if he were swaying to some sort of inaudible tune.

"I don't see why not. Your new limitations will be put into order for the morning," Astrid suspected that Hiccup was smirking, despite the fact that she couldn't actually see it, "You'll just have to be happy with the spring for now."

As soon as Hiccup was out of hearing range, Astrid spoke aloud in wonder, "Perhaps he's stuck in puberty."

**A/N: This A/N was originally finished hours ago. It said something about knowing puberty never lasts that long and a joke. There was also some sarcasm on the actual excitement of this chapter (none). But that's all somewhere in the "back" arrow at the top of the document I'm writing this on. **

**I'm not typing this up because I wanted a universal "sorry". No. Not in 100,000,000 years would I want that. What I want to do is dedicate this to MistyLeafmarkian. I'm not saying who she is to me, or why exactly she is the star of this A/N, because that's not the point. The point is, this to MistyLeafmarkian (Duckie). And I'm always going to remember you, Duckie. No matter what happens, and, at the **_**very**_** least, I'm giving you this. I love you, Duckie.**

**This final part, I dedicate to ANYONE who truly understands that feeling where you don't want sorry.**

**For anyone who doesn't want to be confused, then don't. Just review and be on your merry way. Please.**

**~ Sam**


	4. Chapter 4: Freak by Molly Sandén

**Forevermore**

**(Warning: This chapter contains angst)**

_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III_

The smell of sulfur filled his nose, meaning someone — in particular, the dragon that lived under his roof— had decided to liven thing up. Hiccup hadn't heard a boom, but, then again, he had been catching up on some long-needed sleep. Hiccup sighed and pulled off his sheets to go tend to the fire.

Hiccup raked his hand through his hair as he walked; his hand brushing one of his scales. Slowly, he felt the other scales around his face, then down his neck. Hiccup closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. 99 years, starting that day. He'd almost forgotten about it; almost. It was night too! He'd never been good at tracking the days, why oh why was he suddenly so...

Oh.

Wait.

The guest. Hiccup would take one look at her and feel resentment. She reminded Hiccup of humanity; both beautiful and harsh, but none more than what he had become.

Hiccup suddenly scowled. While his sob story was great, he had a fire to tend. He was _not_ willing to find another place. This one was hard enough to find.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called out towards the smell of the sulfur. It startled Hiccup when Toothless came bounding from the _other_ direction.

"H-hi, bud," Hiccup said with uncertainty.

Toothless cocked his head to the side, confused as to why he was summoned. Hiccup, however, was more confused as to where the fire...

Oh.

Wait.

"You can go back to whatever you were doing, I've got to go." Hiccup said, walking towards the fire.

He'd called it: Astrid was making a fire. The week before, Hiccup had agreed to let her go everywhere but two rooms: his room, and other room to use as decoy (although Hiccup was pretty sure Astrid had figured it out already). That included outside (it wasn't like she was going to get anywhere, at most, she would get lost), where she would have gotten the wood and dirt to burn the fire.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked, standing in the doorway to the very end hall, he noted, seemed to be Astrid's favorite room to go.

Astrid's head shot straight over to look at him. Her eyes widened in horror, and her mouth went agape.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and prompted, "Well..."

Astrid shut her mouth, although her eyes were still wide.

"Is there something in my hair?" Hiccup asked, now irritated,

"Y-you're not wearing your mask," Astrid mustered out.

Hiccup blinked. Oh. Oh, he had forgotten. Hiccup suddenly felt nauseous. This day was not working out as planned. Hiccup rubbed at his palms, and inhaled deeply.

"I-I must have forgotten. Well, that still does not go for what you are doing with fire in a highly flammable cave."

Astrid's unlocked her eyes from Hiccup's face.

"I was cold," Astrid pulled on her composure, "Besides, the 'highly flammable' part is on you. You do realize you own a dragon." Suddenly, Astrid tensed.

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"I am very well aware of the fact I possess a dragon. I live wherever I _can_. Now, if you're cold, I suggest you use the blanket in your room."

From there, Hiccup hightailed it out of there. When he returned to his room to do some management (both emotional and blacksmith related), he heard Toothless crooning.

Hiccup groaned. Why? Why did the gods hate him so?

Toothless's croon meant there was going to be a raid on Berk. Well, there wasn't _really_ any defiance to it, but with the matter of raids in other islands, Berk was due for one. Not to mention that was where his luck was going anyways.

Hiccup suited up and pulled on his mask. He tapped at his Zippleback gas to make sure he had enough in the case of a bad mishap. Toothless trotted up to Hiccup, glad that he was allowed to fly again. It had been a while.

Hiccup walked over to Astrid's room and peeked in to see if she was there. Indeed she was wrapped up in a blanket looking down at something.

"I'm leaving. I'll go get you some clothes."

Astrid looked up and nodded.

Hiccup looked over at what she was holding.

"Is that stone interesting?" He asked.

Astrid wordlessly shrugged and fiddled with her stone.

"Not very talkative I see. Alright, well, try not to get eaten."

With that, Hiccup left to go get the gear and take off with Toothless. In truth, he really was worried about the girl getting into trouble that involved an Astrid-ka-bob. Hiccup chuckled at the thought and mounted Toothless and led them outside.

The cool-night air was refreshing. Hiccup would take the bet that it would feel even better in the air. He saddled himself in and clicked his foot in place to direct Toothless's tail.

And take off.

Hiccup left in the direction of Berk, savoring the quietness before the chaos.

**.:.:.**

Hiccup came back feeling like he had come from Hel's realm. He felt feverish, yet at the same time, cold. He had not only broken a promise; he'd killed someone.

There was no definite way to say that he had done so, but the villagers sure had made sure he thought had. It took him back, back before he'd been cursed. Back before he had found Toothless. When he screwed everything up. Well, more than he already had. But those times were over. His head went back to the raid.

There were various screams. Some declaring he was a murderer. Others screaming about broken promises. But one struck him. One stood out from the crowd.

"Freak!" Hollered someone anonymous.

Freak. Back when he was cursed, there would be a little voice inside him, telling him that. It was his fault they needed to build back homes that he'd burned. Freak. It was his fault that he destroyed a quarter of winter's savings. _Freak. _It was his fault Toothless relied on him to fly. _Freak._ It was his fault his father died. _Freak_. It was his fault he was covered in scales. _Freak_.

Saving lives from raided towns seemed to pacify him, but today, some had died.

And it was his entire fault.

Hiccup raked his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated scream.

"A-are you okay?" Came a voice.

Hiccup's head shot over to the noise. There, covered by the shadows, was Astrid. She shrank back at his gaze, and quickly retreated. She really did remind him of humanity. She reminded him of _his_ humanity. _Mercy._ He remembered the night the deal had been struck. Hiccup had known it was a trick, but the child— she would have died. This Astrid had been nothing short of cold to him, but her _humanity_ made her concerned. He wouldn't chase off humanity. He _couldn't_.

"Wait," Hiccup called out to retreating figure.

Astrid paused and turned around.

"Yes." No stutter. Something true about her seemed to be peaking out.

"Your clothes," Hiccup pulled out some things from his bag and walked over to hand it to her, "And some feminine high gene products." Astrid blushed as it was handed to her.

"Thank you." Astrid said and walked off.

Hiccup watched her go to her room and took out one last thing from his bag and looked at it. He couldn't have given it to her in person. There was one thing he wanted to do with it before he gave it to her.

**.:.:.**

Later that night, when both Astrid and Toothless were asleep, Hiccup placed a book on Astrid's bedside table. It wasn't much; just a book of fairy tales. He knew Astrid would appreciate it. It would _probably_ be much more exciting than a rock. Hiccup would have given to her whilst he was giving her the essentials, but if you looked really closely at the pages, you would find them to be especially wrinkled around the pages of _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That actually turned out better than I had originally thought. As said at the top, this chapter was filled with angst. Well, it wasn't **_**too**_** bad, but... Well, anyways, I hope that, despite its dankness, this chapter made you happy (wow, look at how much sense that made. AKA none). I tried to go in a little deeper with Hiccup's past. I'm trying as hard as possible to make Hiccup's past similar to the one in the movie's. I sincerely hope I'm trying hard enough. Also, if you feel up to it or if you're just simply bored, I encourage listening to the chapter's song-title and re-read the chapter.**

**Read and review!**

**~ Sam**


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